WoD renaming, White Wolf returns

[Faolyn]

Elegy may be worth a look for some folks. It’s designed from Ironsworn’s foundations, and like its ancestor, solo-oriented but perfectly capable of group play, too. It takes a great deal of inspiration from. Both Vsmpire lines, but from a lot of other. Sources too, and combines interesting factions with very flexible character creation. It’s fun.

Do you have a link?

 

[Autumnal]

Do you have a link?

Whoops, yes.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/456053/elegy

 

[Faolyn]

Whoops, yes.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/456053/elegy

Thanks!

 

[MGibster]

That is so stupid and self-destructive. I would rather see lesser known IPs get revived, like Nightlife, WitchCraft, Everlasting, Chronicles of Darkness, and so on. I'd also rather see new IPs be created that can explore new territory, rather than constantly rehashing the same stuff from decades and decades ago with lower and lower returns. Constantly upsetting the fans with skinsuits isn't sustainable. Just look at Disney.

I'd rather companies catered to my wants and needs as well, but I'm not sure they could remain in business if they revolve their marketing around me. I owned Nightlife, 2nd edition I think, and at the time Vampire was just so much more popular that it wasn't even a contest. I don't know if there's a lot of interest in Nightlife today. On occasion I might hear someone mention Nightlife, but rarely does anyone wax nostalgia about it.

There is as point where games are, at least superficially, similar enough to what is already popular that there doesn't seem to be a point in buying them. Candela Obscura and Arkham Horror might be good games, but if they're doing the same thing as Call of Cthulhu then why would I buy them? The same goes for WitchCraft. It might be a good game, but if I've already got Mage, then what do I need WitchCraft for?

 

[Jd Smith1]

I'd rather companies catered to my wants and needs as well, but I'm not sure they could remain in business if they revolve their marketing around me. I owned Nightlife, 2nd edition I think, and at the time Vampire was just so much more popular that it wasn't even a contest. I don't know if there's a lot of interest in Nightlife today. On occasion I might hear someone mention Nightlife, but rarely does anyone wax nostalgia about it.

There is as point where games are, at least superficially, similar enough to what is already popular that there doesn't seem to be a point in buying them. Candela Obscura and Arkham Horror might be good games, but if they're doing the same thing as Call of Cthulhu then why would I buy them? The same goes for WitchCraft. It might be a good game, but if I've already got Mage, then what do I need WitchCraft for?

Yeah, jumping on a bandwagon is not a wise formula in the hobby, but its common.

 

[MGibster]

Yeah, jumping on a bandwagon is not a wise formula in the hobby, but its common.

I don't mean to imply there isn't any room for other games revolving around supernatural investigations. There's Vaesen, Beyond the Supernatural, Esoterrorist, Kult, GURPS (various books), Chill, Conspiracy X, East Texas University, etc., etc. It's just that Arkham Horror and Candela Obscura seem to be specifically going after the same type of gameplay as Call of Cthulhu. If CoC scratches that itch for me, why would I want either of the other two games?

You're not wrong about jumping on the bandwagon, but I do believe we've had plenty of rather unique role playing games released in the last 50+ years. Most of them didn't remain popular for very long, some of them not at all, but that's just how these things go.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

If CoC scratches that itch for me, why would I want either of the other two games?

I mean, my feeling is usually kind of the reverse, maybe I'm a neophiliac or whatever but if a game is like, absolutely in my "strike zone" interests-wise, i.e. it's very similar to a game I like in terms of subject matter, then that automatically makes me more interested in it, not less. What would make me less interested isn't "It's about that subject you like running RPGs about!", but rather "The rules are rather similar to that RPG about that subject that you already have!" or "This game just applies generic-ass rules to the subject". Hence yet another d20-based, level-based, linear-power-gain Heroic Fantasy RPG doesn't necessarily make me go "Ooooh!", but a gain using very different mechanical approaches and ideas to explore Heroic Fantasy or a similar area does make me pay attention.

I don't think this is uncommon either - like, there's a whole bunch of Cthulhu mythos games for a reason, and I don't think it's just a lot of people thinking "CoC sux lol" or something, but rather because people like seeing different ways it could be done, and like trying new games with similar subject matter to see if they prefer them.

And trying is part of it because like, how does one know that, say Arkham Horror and Candela Obscura won't do a better job than CoC? I'm not saying they will, but I'm making the point that most people don't just know that - that wanting to find that out by playing them or at least reading them is actually very common.

if I've already got Mage, then what do I need WitchCraft for?

I guess if you want to run something more like The Craft or a darker take on Buffy rather than The Matrix/Jujutsu Kaisen? I mean, those two games seem like they're about very different genres to me.

 

[VelvetViolet]

my feeling is usually kind of the reverse

Ditto.

I don’t like WoD. I want to play a different take on urban fantasy. I don’t need to justify myself to anyone.

If nobody else wants to make urban fantasy rpgs anymore, or new entries in any other genres, then I’ll just leave. I don’t need rpgs to live.

 

[MGibster]

I mean, my feeling is usually kind of the reverse, maybe I'm a neophiliac or whatever but if a game is like, absolutely in my "strike zone" interests-wise, i.e. it's very similar to a game I like in terms of subject matter, then that automatically makes me more interested in it, not less.

But...but...you're doing it wrong. Just kidding. That's cool. Different strokes for different folks. It's hard enough for me to play all the games I want to play, I've pretty much just accepted Pendragon will always be just out of reach, so when I play a different game I typically choose one that doesn't hit the same zone as a game I've already played.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Ditto.

I don’t like WoD. I want to play a different take on urban fantasy. I don’t need to justify myself to anyone.

If nobody else wants to make urban fantasy rpgs anymore, or new entries in any other genres, then I’ll just leave. I don’t need rpgs to live.

I get it, sometimes you just aren't really feeling anything you're aware of in a genre but still want something from that! I kind of feel that way re: cyberpunk games - they all seem to either tedious and bit awkward like Cyberpunk RED or just really free-form and trippy, and nothing in the middle.

That said I think the difficulty you were having with urban fantasy isn't so much that there aren't new games coming out in that sphere, there are, but from your January thread about them it seemed like your requirements were:

A) Not tied to a specific singular setting.

and

B) Does have at least one setting detailed.

Which don't necessarily conflict, there are games for which both are true, for example, All Flesh Must Be Eaten offers multiple zombie settings (it's not urban fantasy, just an example of doing both), but it's relatively rare to see games do both.

One game that wasn't mentioned in that thread but that does seem similar to the 1990s/2000s urban fantasy games you listed is Defiant, which might be worth a look if you haven't seen it already. Not sure if anyone mentioned City of Mist, either.